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Astros pitcher Cristian Javier is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Sunday, Pete Alonso of the Mets extends his lead among National League batters and now has the most Box-Toppers points for any batter in a single season since 2017 and the eighth-most for any batter in a single season from 2010 forward.
Read MoreDavid Ortiz is the only player inducted into internet baseball writers’ Hall of Fame for 2022.
None of the nine candidates Box-Toppers voted for Hall induction received the necessary 75 percent support. And Box-Toppers also did not vote for Ortiz.
Read MoreBox-Toppers is voting for nine players to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in the 2022 Internet Baseball Writers Association of America (IBWAA) ballot.
Of the nine players, three are in their first year on the ballot—Tim Lincecum, Jake Peavy and Mark Teixeira. The other six all return after not receiving the necessary votes to make the hall last year, including Curt Schilling, who is on the ballot for his 10th and final year.
Read MoreAnalyzing 25 years of Box-Toppers points leaders among American League and National League pitchers and batters each season.
Read MoreAnalyzing 24 years of Box-Toppers points leaders in pitching & batting in both leagues
Read MoreDiamondbacks pitcher Zack Godley is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Thursday, Anthony Rizzo of the Cubs rises to 10th place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors, extending his dominating lead among National League batters. Rizzo becomes the first batter since June 27 to be ranked among the season’s top 10 players.
Read MoreIndians pitcher Corey Kluber is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to sixth place in season player rankings.
Meanwhile, Box-Toppers points leader, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw, failed to extend his lead in his start Thursday. He did not earn Box-Toppers points in his team’s loss to the Rockies, which opens the door for Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer to retake the lead in his start Friday.
Read MoreKershaw, who has ranked 1st or 2nd among all players in Box-Toppers points each of the past six seasons, has a dominating lead among players over 2011-2016.
Read MoreAthletics pitcher Sonny Gray had the biggest decline in Box-Toppers point total from 2015 to 2016—16.8. Both 2015 Cy Young Award winners, Dallas Keuchel and Jake Arrieta, are among the top four "big dippers" in points from 2015 to 2016.
Read MoreAndrew McCutchen replaces Ryan Braun as leader among NL batters in six-year rolling Box-Toppers totals (2011-2016 vs. 2010-2015).
Read MoreWho are each franchise's top 4 players in career Box-Toppers points since 1995?
Read MoreBox-Toppers' top pitchers Jake Arrieta of the Cubs and Dallas Keuchel of the Astros are Cy Young Award finalists. But Box-Toppers' top batters Adrian Beltre of the Rangers and Carlos Gonzalez of the Rockies are not MVP finalists.
Read MoreJosh Donaldson of the Blue Jays wins Players Choice top player award, though Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta is Box-Toppers Player of the Year.
Read MoreComing back from injury, Matt Harvey had the biggest gain in Box-Toppers points from 2014 to 2015. Rangers' Prince Fielder had big comeback year in AL, but 2 AL players had bigger gains from 2014 to 2015.
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Cubs pitcher Jon Lester is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Lester struck out nine over eight innings, allowing one run and three hits, in the 10-3 win over the Reds.
Lester earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 12.0 for the season. He ranks 26th among all players and 13th among NL pitchers.
| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Arrieta, Jake 2738 | pi sp | chi nl | 27.1 |
| 2 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 24.7 |
| 3 | deGrom, Jacob 3343 | pi sp | nym nl | 21.4 |
| 4 | Keuchel, Dallas 3050 | pi sp | hou al | 21.4 |
| 5 | Price, David 2593 | pi sp | tor al | 21.1 |
| 6 | Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | lad nl | 19.7 |
| 7 | Hernandez, Felix 2064 | pi sp | sea al | 19.4 |
| 8 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 19.0 |
| 9 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | pit nl | 19.0 |
| 10 | Carrasco, Carlos 2885 | pi sp | cle al | 18.0 |
Lester also now has 121.1 career Box-Toppers points, maintaining his rank of 37th among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began. He trails 36th-ranked player Jered Weaver (123.1).
American League Player of the Day—Orioles pitcher Kevin Gausman struck out 10 over eight innings, allowing one run and five hits, in the 8-1 win over the Blue Jays.
American League Batter of the Day—Jose Ramirez of the Indians hit a three-run homer, doubled and went 2-for-4, scoring twice and driving in four runs, in the 10-2 win over the Twins.
National League Batter of the Day—Francisco Cervelli of the Pirates hit a grand slam and doubled, going 2-for-4, scoring twice and driving in four runs, in the 8-2 win over the Cardinals.
Rankings—Adrian Beltre of the Rangers maintained his rank of third among AL batters after earning Player of the Game honors Wednesday.
Beltre (HR 2B 2-4 2R 2BI in the 6-2 win over the Tigers) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 11.5 for the season. He ranks 31st among all players and third among AL batters behind Mike Trout of the Angels (12.0) and Prince Fielder of the Rangers (11.5).
This was the second straight day Beltre earned Player of the Game honors. It was the fifth time in September Beltre earned the honor—he earned 6.0 total Box-Toppers points in September. In fact, Beltre has earned all his points since earning his first Player of the Game honor of the season on July 31. He had 4.5 Box-Toppers points in August. And despite a season when he had very similar numbers to this year, Beltre earned no Box-Toppers points in 2014—in fact this year, he has a lower batting average (.281 to .324) and lower home run totals (16 to 19) than in 2014. (One notable difference—the Rangers had 67 wins in 2014 and already have 86 in 2015, so Beltre has had more opportunity for Box-Toppers points this year, since players can only earn Player of the Game honors when their team wins.)
Beltre also Wednesday became the 68th player since 1995 to earn 100 or more career Box-Toppers points. Beltre now has 100.8 career points and rises to 65th place among all players since 1995. He passes three players on the “all-time” list—Larry Walker (100.1), Jeff Bagwell (100.4) and Paul Konerko (100.7). He trails 67th-ranked player Jason Schmidt (101.2).
It should be noted that Walker and Bagwell both started their careers before the advent of Box-Toppers in 1995 and that if their entire career were tracked they would likely have more points. Walker’s first year was 1989 and rough estimates would put his Box-Toppers career point total at 135. Bagwell began in 1991 and his estimated career total would be 125. Konerko began in 1997, so his entire career was tracked by Box-Toppers.
Notable—Giants pitcher Mike Leake became the 44th player this season with 10 or more Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Wednesday.
Leake (CG 2H 0R K W in the 5-0 win over the Dodgers) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.0 for the season. He ranks 41st among all players and 17th among NL pitchers.
Top 10—Two pitchers in Box-Toppers top 10 player rankings started Wednesday, but did not earn Player of the Game honors:
Scoring—Lester earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Gausman earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. Ramirez and Cervelli each earn 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Wednesday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
About Box-Toppers—Box-Toppers tracks who most helps their team win the most games. Using standard box score statistics, Box-Toppers uses a simple formula to determine a Player of the Game for each Major League Baseball game played. That player is the person who contributed most to his team’s win. In regular season games, players earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being named Player of the Game and can earn bonus points for being Player of the Day or top player or batter in their league for the day.
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 9/30 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 12.0 | Cubs | Jon Lester (W,11-12) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 9 | |
| AL | 11.0 | Orioles | Kevin Gausman (W,4-7) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 10 | |
| 9.0 | Twins | Kyle Gibson (W,11-11) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 9 | ||
| 8.0 | Cardinals | Tyler Lyons (W,3-1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | ||
| 7.0 | Blue Jays | Marcus Stroman (W,4-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 8 | ||
| 6.0 | Brewers | Zach Davies (W,3-2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | ||
| 6.0 | Rays | Drew Smyly (W,5-2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 8 | ||
| 5.0 | Giants | Mike Leake (W,11-10) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 9.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | ||
| BAT | 4.0 | Indians | Jose Ramirez, 2B | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| BAT | 4.0 | Pirates | Francisco Cervelli, C | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.0 | Phillies | Freddy Galvis, SS | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Red Sox | Travis Shaw, 1B | 5 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Rangers | Adrian Beltre, 3B | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Astros | Luis Valbuena, 3B | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Royals | Wade Davis (S,15) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 2.0 | Braves | Arodys Vizcaino (S,9) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 1.0 | Athletics | Eric Sogard, 2B | 4 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.0 | Dbacks | David Peralta, LF | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and maintains his spot at second place in season player rankings.
Kershaw pitched a complete-game, one-hit shutout, striking out 13, in the 8-0 win over the Giants.
| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Arrieta, Jake 2738 | pi sp | chi nl | 27.1 |
| 2 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 24.7 |
| 3 | deGrom, Jacob 3343 | pi sp | nym nl | 21.4 |
| 4 | Keuchel, Dallas 3050 | pi sp | hou al | 21.4 |
| 5 | Price, David 2593 | pi sp | tor al | 21.1 |
| 6 | Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | lad nl | 19.7 |
| 7 | Hernandez, Felix 2064 | pi sp | sea al | 19.4 |
| 8 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 19.0 |
| 9 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | pit nl | 19.0 |
| 10 | Carrasco, Carlos 2885 | pi sp | cle al | 18.0 |
Kershaw earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 24.7 for the season. He still trails overall and National League pitching leader Jake Arrieta (27.1) by 2.4 Box-Toppers points. And with five days left in the season, Kershaw has no realistic shot of catching him, ending his streak of four straight years leading NL pitchers and two straight years of leading all players in Box-Toppers points.
Kershaw had a Box-Toppers game score Tuesday of +20. It is the eighth time this season that a player has had a Box-Toppers game score of +20 or more.
Kershaw also rose to 13th place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began. With his points Tuesday, Kershaw has 158.3 career Box-Toppers points and passes Tim Hudson (157.0), who had earlier passed Kershaw. John Smoltz (160.9) is ranked just ahead of Kershaw on the “all-time” list at 12th place. Kershaw is the third-ranked active pitcher in career Box-Toppers points, behind CC Sabathia of the Yankees (187.0) and Felix Hernandez of the Mariners (162.7).
American League Player of the Day—Angels pitcher Nick Tropeano struck out 11 over 6 2/3 innings, allowing one run and three hits, in the 8-1 win over the Athletics.
American League Batter of the Day—Blake Swihart of the Red Sox hit two homers and drove in five runs in the 10-4 win over the Yankees.
National League Batter of the Day—A.J. Pierzynski of the Braves hit two homers and went 3-for-3 in the 2-1 win over the Nationals.
With Tuesday’s Player of the Game honor, his first of the season, Pierzynski has now earned Box-Toppers points for 13 straight seasons. He earned his first Box-Toppers point in 2001 with the Twins, but his current 13-season streak began in 2003 with the Twins. His best year was 2012 with the White Sox, when he had 6.0 Box-Toppers points, ranked fourth among AL catchers. In 2014, he had 1.0 Box-Toppers point with the Red Sox (and later played with the Cardinals that season).
Pierzynski has 47.2 career Box-Toppers points, which ranks 331st among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began. However, he ranks sixth among all catchers in that time and ranks second among active catchers in career Box-Toppers points, behind Brian McCann of the Yankees (55.2).
Notable—Others who earned Player of the Game honors Tuesday had notable achievements:
Debut—Diamondbacks pitcher Silvino Bracho made his Box-Toppers debut Tuesday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Bracho (1.2IP 0H 0R 2K ND in the 4-3 win over the Rockies) made his Major League debut Aug. 30 and was playing in his 11th career game. He is the 3,605th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Scoring—Kershaw earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Tropeano earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. Swihart and Pierzynski each earn 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Tuesday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
About Box-Toppers—Box-Toppers tracks who most helps their team win the most games. Using standard box score statistics, Box-Toppers uses a simple formula to determine a Player of the Game for each Major League Baseball game played. That player is the person who contributed most to his team’s win. In regular season games, players earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being named Player of the Game and can earn bonus points for being Player of the Day or top player or batter in their league for the day.
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 9/29 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 20.0 | Dodgers | Clayton Kershaw (W,16-7) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 9.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 13 | |
| AL | 11.2 | Angels | Nick Tropeano (W,3-2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 11 | |
| 10.1 | Cubs | Dan Haren (W,10-9) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||
| BAT | 5.0 | Red Sox | Blake Swihart, C | 4 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| BAT | 4.0 | Braves | A.J. Pierzynski, C | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.2 | `Dbacks | Silvino Bracho (MR) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 2.0 | Brewers | Jean Segura, SS | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Mariners | Robinson Cano, 2B | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Rays | Asdrubal Cabrera, SS | 3 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | White Sox | Carlos Sanchez, 2B | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.1 | Phillies | Adam Loewen (MR) (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 0.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 1.0 | Rangers | Adrian Beltre, 3B | 5 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| `Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save. | ||||||||||||||||
Arrieta takes lead over Kershaw. AL pitching leader David Price has chance to pass. Trout takes AL batting lead, Gonzo maintains lead among NL batters.
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Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, maintaining his lead in player rankings.
Also Tuesday, Mike Trout of the Angels took the lead among American League batters in Box-Toppers points.
| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Arrieta, Jake 2738 | pi sp | chi nl | 25.1 |
| 2 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 22.7 |
| 3 | Price, David 2593 | pi sp | tor al | 21.1 |
| 4 | deGrom, Jacob 3343 | pi sp | nym nl | 20.4 |
| 5 | Keuchel, Dallas 3050 | pi sp | hou al | 20.4 |
| 6 | Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | lad nl | 19.7 |
| 7 | Hernandez, Felix 2064 | pi sp | sea al | 19.4 |
| 8 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | pit nl | 18.0 |
| 9 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | chi al | 17.1 |
| 10 | Bumgarner, Madison 2753 | pi sp | sf nl | 17.0 |
Player of the Day—Arrieta pitched a complete-game shutout, striking out 11 and allowing three hits, in the 4-0 win over the Brewers.
Arrieta earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 25.1 for the season. He becomes the 21st player with 25.0 or more Box-Toppers points in a single season since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began.
With his points Tuesday, he takes a 2.4-point lead over second-place player and fellow NL pitcher Clayton Kershaw of the Dodgers. That means Kershaw would need to earn Box-Toppers points in each of what would likely be his final two starts of the season to have a chance to pass Arrieta. Kershaw has led NL pitchers for the past four seasons. Only one player has led his league category in Box-Toppers points in more consecutive seasons since 1995—Randy Johnson led NL pitchers five straight years from 1998 to 2002.
American League Player of the Day—Mariners pitcher Hisashi Iwakuma pitched seven scoreless innings, striking out 10 and allowing three hits, in the 11-2 win over the Royals.
Iwakuma earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 13.1 for the season. He ranks 20th among all players and 10th among AL pitchers.
National League Batter of the Day—Cody Asche of the Phillies homered twice and went 3-for-4, scoring three runs, in the 6-2 win over the Marlins.
| Rank | Player | Team | Pos | Year | BTP |
| 1 | Randy Johnson | Dbacks | pi sp | 2000 | 33.7 |
| 1 | Randy Johnson | Dbacks | pi sp | 2002 | 33.7 |
| 3 | Pedro Martinez | Red Sox | pi sp | 2000 | 33.5 |
| 4 | Randy Johnson | Dbacks | pi sp | 1999 | 31.5 |
| 4 | Clayton Kershaw | Dodgers | pi sp | 2014 | 31.5 |
| 6 | Pedro Martinez | Red Sox | pi sp | 1999 | 31.4 |
| 7 | Randy Johnson | Dbacks | pi sp | 2001 | 29.4 |
| 8 | Pedro Martinez | Red Sox | pi sp | 2002 | 28.8 |
| 9 | Curt Schilling | Dbacks | pi sp | 2002 | 28.4 |
| 10 | Roger Clemens | Blue Jays | pi sp | 1997 | 27.4 |
| 11 | Johan Santana | Twins | pi sp | 2004 | 26.8 |
| 12 | Pedro Martinez | Expos | pi sp | 1997 | 26.7 |
| 12 | CC Sabathia | Indians/Brewers | pi sp | 2008 | 26.7 |
| 14 | Randy Johnson | Mariners/Astros | pi sp | 1998 | 26.4 |
| 15 | John Smoltz | Braves | pi sp | 1996 | 26.1 |
| 15 | Clayton Kershaw | Dodgers | pi sp | 2011 | 26.1 |
| 17 | Roger Clemens | Blue Jays | pi sp | 1998 | 25.8 |
| 17 | Corey Kluber | Indians | pi sp | 2014 | 25.8 |
| 19 | Johan Santana | Twins | pi sp | 2006 | 25.7 |
| 20 | Cliff Lee | Phillies | pi sp | 2011 | 25.4 |
| 21 | *Jake Arrieta | Cubs | pi sp | 2015 | 25.1 |
| * Current season | |||||
American League Batter of the Day—Delino DeShields of the Rangers went 1-for-2, scoring twice and driving in two runs, in the 8-6 win over the Athletics.
Rankings—Mike Trout of the Angels took the lead among AL batters in Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Tuesday.
Trout (HR 1-3 R 2BI in the 4-3 win over the Astros) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 12.0 for the season. He passes Prince Fielder of the Rangers (11.5) to lead AL batters. Trout ranks 25th among all players.
Notable—Two others who earned Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors Tuesday achieved notable milestones:
Scoring—Arrieta earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Iwakuma earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. Asche and DeShields each earn 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Tuesday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
About Box-Toppers—Box-Toppers tracks who most helps their team win the most games. Using standard box score statistics, Box-Toppers uses a simple formula to determine a Player of the Game for each Major League Baseball game played. That player is the person who contributed most to his team’s win. In regular season games, players earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being named Player of the Game and can earn bonus points for being Player of the Day or top player or batter in their league for the day.
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 9/22 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 16.0 | Cubs | Jake Arrieta (W,20-6) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 9.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 11 | |
| AL | 13.0 | Mariners | Hisashi Iwakuma (W,9-4) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 10 | |
| 9.0 | `Tigers | Daniel Norris | - | - | - | - | - | - | 5.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | ||
| 8.0 | Dbacks | Robbie Ray (W,5-12) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 7 | ||
| 6.0 | Twins | Ervin Santana (W,6-4) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 | ||
| 5.0 | Braves | Matt Wisler (W,6-8) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 8 | ||
| 4.1 | `Giants | Chris Heston | - | - | - | - | - | - | 4.1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 7 | ||
| BAT | 4.0 | Phillies | Cody Asche, 3B | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 4.0 | `Orioles | Brad Brach (MR) (H,12) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | ||
| BAT | 3.0 | Rangers | Delino DeShields, CF | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.0 | Cardinals | John Lackey (W,13-9) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 7 | ||
| 3.0 | `Pirates | Joakim Soria (MR) (H,9) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 2.0 | Yankees | Carlos Beltran, RF | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Rays | Brad Boxberger (S,36) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | ||
| 1.0 | Angels | Mike Trout, CF | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| `Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save. | ||||||||||||||||
Jake Arrieta & Clayton Kershaw keep swapping player ranking leads with Jake leading for now. Price, Prince take lead in AL categories. Gonzo still leads NL batters.
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Cardinals pitcher John Lackey is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Lackey pitched seven scoreless innings, striking out eight and allowing five hits, in the 6-3 win over the Brewers.
| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Arrieta, Jake 2738 | pi sp | chi nl | 23.1 |
| 2 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 22.7 |
| 3 | deGrom, Jacob 3343 | pi sp | nym nl | 20.4 |
| 4 | Price, David 2593 | pi sp | tor al | 20.1 |
| 5 | Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | lad nl | 19.7 |
| 6 | Hernandez, Felix 2064 | pi sp | sea al | 19.4 |
| 7 | Keuchel, Dallas 3050 | pi sp | hou al | 19.4 |
| 8 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | chi al | 17.1 |
| 9 | Bumgarner, Madison 2753 | pi sp | sf nl | 17.0 |
| 10 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 17.0 |
Lackey rises to 55th place in Box-Toppers points among all players since 1995, when record keeping began. He earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 106.8 for his career. With his points Thursday, he passes two players on the “all-time” list—Aramis Ramirez (105.8) and Frank Thomas (106.2). (Thomas began his career in 1990, five years before Box-Toppers record keeping began. If his entire career were tracked, based on rough projections, Thomas would likely have about 145 career Box-Toppers points.) Lackey now trails 54th-place player Lance Berkman (108.1).
Lackey has 8.7 Box-Toppers points for the season, 52nd among all players, 20th among NL pitchers.
American League Player of the Day—Omar Infante of the Royals homered, doubled and went 3-for-4, driving in seven runs, in the 8-4 win over the Indians.
National League Batter of the Day—Addison Russell of the Cubs doubled and went 2-for-4, scoring twice and driving in two runs, in the 9-6 win over the Pirates.
American League Batter of the Day—There is no separate AL Batter of the Day Thursday because the overall AL Player of the Day was batter Omar Infante.
Notable—Mike Trout of the Angels rose to second place among AL batters in Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors.
Trout (2HR 2-3 3R 5BI in the 11-8 win over the Twins) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 11.0 for the season, rising to 29th place among all players.
Trout had a Box-Toppers game score of +7.0 Thursday, the same as Omar Infante. But Infante won AL Player of the Day honors on a tiebreaker because he had more at bats than Trout—four vs. three. Had Trout earned AL Player of the Day honors instead of Infante and earned 1.7 Box-Toppers points, Trout would have had 11.7 points for the season, enough to pass AL batting leader Prince Fielder of the Rangers (11.5). But he didn’t.
Trout led AL batters in Box-Toppers points much of July and all of August, but was passed by other players in September. This was Trout’s first Box-Toppers point since July 26.
Debut—Orioles pitcher Chaz Roe made his Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Roe (1.1IP 0H 0R 2K W in the 4-3 win over the Rays) made his Major League debut July 1, 2013, and was playing in his 58th career game. He is the 3,597th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Scoring—Lackey earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Infante earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. Russell earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day. All of Thursday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
About Box-Toppers—Box-Toppers tracks who most helps their team win the most games. Using standard box score statistics, Box-Toppers uses a simple formula to determine a Player of the Game for each Major League Baseball game played. That player is the person who contributed most to his team’s win. In regular season games, players earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being named Player of the Game and can earn bonus points for being Player of the Day or top player or batter in their league for the day.
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 9/17 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 8.0 | Cardinals | John Lackey (W,12-9) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 8 | |
| AL | 7.0 | Royals | Omar Infante, 2B | 4 | 1 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 7.0 | Angels | Mike Trout, CF | 3 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 7.0 | Blue Jays | Marco Estrada (W,13-8) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | ||
| 3.1 | Orioles | Chaz Roe (MR) (W,4-2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 3.1 | Marlins | A.J. Ramos (S,28) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 3.0 | Rangers | Shin-Soo Choo, RF | 5 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | Athletics | Sean Doolittle (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 2.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| BAT | 2.0 | Cubs | Addison Russell, SS | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Box-Toppers tracks who most helps their team win the most games. Using standard box score statistics, Box-Toppers uses a simple formula to determine a Player of the Game for each Major League Baseball game played. That player is the person who contributed most to his team’s win. Players earn Box-Toppers points for being named Player of the Game and can earn bonus points for being Player of the Day or top player or batter in their league for the day.